manchurianbrownbear
<font color=green>Not very concise<br><font color=
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2002
- Messages
- 1,160
It looks like there were a lot of us DISers at DLR last week!
If anyone is interested, here are a few of my observations and opinions after visiting DLR last week, 8/1 8/3.
Wait Times / Crowds: Crowds were pretty manageable. The longest lines we encountered were approximately ½ an hour (Jungle Cruise in the early afternoon and Indiana Jones mid evening with a FP!)
We used FP as often as possible and followed advice from the DIS on when to hit which attractions.
The only time the park was uncomfortably crowded was when we got caught in post-fireworks or post-Fantasmic crowds.
We showed up a little before 10:00 and got a great spot to view the 10:30 Fantasmic. Fireworks were a little tougher. We arrived at a spot right next to the Walt Disney statue about an hour before the fireworks. It was already pretty crowded and it got a lot more crowded!
Hotel: We stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn. We were very satisfied with this hotel. Weve stayed at All Star Movies at WDW and we thought our room at BWPPI was comparable. It was a little bigger, but we missed the Disney theming. BWPPI provides a modest complimentary breakfast (pastries, cold cereal, apples, milk, juice, coffee). They also offer three free pancakes in a separate dining area, but you have to pay for anything you order to go with the pancakes.
The biggest benefit of staying at BWPPI is the location. It is right across the street from DLR. This made it really easy to take a midday break.
Early Entry: What time to arrive for EE?, seems to be a FAQ on the DIS. We feared encountering long lines at EE and spending our EE hour waiting in line outside the park, so we arrived at the bag check line by about 6:10 am on Monday, 8/1. We were first in line at the gate where we lined up to enter Disneyland. We could have easily waited until 6:30. As we approached the park, we noticed that there was no music playing. I always enjoy hearing the music outside the parks and the silence was kind of eerie! So, I guess we were a little over cautious!
California Adventure: Highlights for us included; Grizzly River Run, Soarin (this ride is really fun and the pre-show, featuring David Puddy from Seinfeld, is very funny!), Tower of Terror, Sun Wheel, the Aladdin Show (dont miss this show!) and Tough to be a Bug. There were several other enjoyable attractions, but those were the ones I enjoyed the most.
It seems like CA kind of gets a bad rap. I didnt enjoy it as much as Disneyland; it just doesnt seem distinctly Disney, but it has many E-ticket attractions, and its sure nice to have it there as an alternative when Disneyland gets crowded. We had a 3-day PH and ran over to CA midday on two of those days. I thought the whole Hollywood Picture Backlot was pretty cool. Kind of like a miniature version of MGM at WDW. I enjoyed Paradise Pier the least. The Sun Wheel was fun. California Screamin was closed. Some of the other rides were fun, but they lack the theming I love on most Disney park attractions.
Disneyland: Our two most recent Disney trips have been to WDW. The kids had never been to Disneyland, so I had some concern about DLR suffering by comparison to WDW, or to MK specifically. Ill say that our DLR experience came very close to equaling our WDW experiences.
There were several things I liked better about Disneyland.
Its smaller, which made it very easy to get around. The smaller area makes it easier for a traffic jam to develop, but for most of the day, it was really nice to be able to get from one end of the park to the other in just a couple minutes. Since we had PH, it was also really nice having the entrance to CA a couple hundred yards from DLs gate.
As a Twin Cities resident, with the Mall of America in my back yard, I thought that one could compare DL to WDWs MK the same way you can compare your favorite local mall to MOA. MOA has more to offer, and can offer it on a larger scale, but in the end, most of the things I appreciate about MOA are also available at the local mall and its easier to get around in the local mall.
Indiana Jones was great, similar to the Dinosaur ride at WDW, but I enjoy Indiana Jones storyline. The preshow is good; those who look into the eyes of the double-dealing diety take a detour to doom!
The new Space Mountain was really fun. As others have said in past threads; its a little smoother ride and its a little darker I couldnt see the track as much as I remember seeing it on the old Space Mountain.
I enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean more at Disneyland than at MK. The first couple minutes of the ride is better IMO.
The short wait at Haunted Mansion was a pleasant surprise. I love this ride and the wait time was almost always 5 minutes!
Fantasmic was great. I enjoyed the Peter Pan vs Captain Hook sequence on the pirate ship and didnt miss the Pocahontas segment from WDWs version of Fantasmic! Although we had a great spot to watch the show, Id prefer watching from an amphitheatre like at WDW instead of sitting on the ground as we did at DL.
The fireworks were as good as advertised. The crowds before, during and after the show are crazy; we had to stand during the entire show, but some kind people in front of us made room for our younger kids right up on the rope.
We had an 11:30 PS at Blue Bayou on Monday, 8/1. We decided to take advantage of a short line at POC a couple minutes before 11:00. Of course, the ride stalled briefly and we ended up checking in at Blue Bayou at around 11:20. We requested a waterside table (for our family of 6), but were seated one row of tables in from the water. Kind of disappointing, but lunch (Monte Cristo & sausage stuffed mushrooms appetizer. Mmmmmm!) was fabulous and our table was OK.
We took advantage of the $20 vouchers we received for joining ESPNs MVP Club (a great DIS tip!) and had lunch at the ESPN Zone in DTD one day. Ive found that ESPN Zone has pretty good food and very generous portions!
The weather was great for our entire trip; no humidity, which Minnesotans really appreciate!
Ill have to say that the biggest highlight of the trip was meeting HydroGuy and his family at Storybook Land Canal Boats! Running into a fellow DISer made me feel a little like Dan Murphy! Trey, after reading how thoroughly you prepared for your days in the parks, I now wish we had followed you around all three days we were there! BTW, the Storybook Land Canal Boat held BOTH of our 6-member families!
If anyone has questions, Id be happy to help!
If anyone is interested, here are a few of my observations and opinions after visiting DLR last week, 8/1 8/3.
Wait Times / Crowds: Crowds were pretty manageable. The longest lines we encountered were approximately ½ an hour (Jungle Cruise in the early afternoon and Indiana Jones mid evening with a FP!)
We used FP as often as possible and followed advice from the DIS on when to hit which attractions.
The only time the park was uncomfortably crowded was when we got caught in post-fireworks or post-Fantasmic crowds.
We showed up a little before 10:00 and got a great spot to view the 10:30 Fantasmic. Fireworks were a little tougher. We arrived at a spot right next to the Walt Disney statue about an hour before the fireworks. It was already pretty crowded and it got a lot more crowded!
Hotel: We stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn. We were very satisfied with this hotel. Weve stayed at All Star Movies at WDW and we thought our room at BWPPI was comparable. It was a little bigger, but we missed the Disney theming. BWPPI provides a modest complimentary breakfast (pastries, cold cereal, apples, milk, juice, coffee). They also offer three free pancakes in a separate dining area, but you have to pay for anything you order to go with the pancakes.
The biggest benefit of staying at BWPPI is the location. It is right across the street from DLR. This made it really easy to take a midday break.
Early Entry: What time to arrive for EE?, seems to be a FAQ on the DIS. We feared encountering long lines at EE and spending our EE hour waiting in line outside the park, so we arrived at the bag check line by about 6:10 am on Monday, 8/1. We were first in line at the gate where we lined up to enter Disneyland. We could have easily waited until 6:30. As we approached the park, we noticed that there was no music playing. I always enjoy hearing the music outside the parks and the silence was kind of eerie! So, I guess we were a little over cautious!
California Adventure: Highlights for us included; Grizzly River Run, Soarin (this ride is really fun and the pre-show, featuring David Puddy from Seinfeld, is very funny!), Tower of Terror, Sun Wheel, the Aladdin Show (dont miss this show!) and Tough to be a Bug. There were several other enjoyable attractions, but those were the ones I enjoyed the most.
It seems like CA kind of gets a bad rap. I didnt enjoy it as much as Disneyland; it just doesnt seem distinctly Disney, but it has many E-ticket attractions, and its sure nice to have it there as an alternative when Disneyland gets crowded. We had a 3-day PH and ran over to CA midday on two of those days. I thought the whole Hollywood Picture Backlot was pretty cool. Kind of like a miniature version of MGM at WDW. I enjoyed Paradise Pier the least. The Sun Wheel was fun. California Screamin was closed. Some of the other rides were fun, but they lack the theming I love on most Disney park attractions.
Disneyland: Our two most recent Disney trips have been to WDW. The kids had never been to Disneyland, so I had some concern about DLR suffering by comparison to WDW, or to MK specifically. Ill say that our DLR experience came very close to equaling our WDW experiences.
There were several things I liked better about Disneyland.
Its smaller, which made it very easy to get around. The smaller area makes it easier for a traffic jam to develop, but for most of the day, it was really nice to be able to get from one end of the park to the other in just a couple minutes. Since we had PH, it was also really nice having the entrance to CA a couple hundred yards from DLs gate.
As a Twin Cities resident, with the Mall of America in my back yard, I thought that one could compare DL to WDWs MK the same way you can compare your favorite local mall to MOA. MOA has more to offer, and can offer it on a larger scale, but in the end, most of the things I appreciate about MOA are also available at the local mall and its easier to get around in the local mall.
Indiana Jones was great, similar to the Dinosaur ride at WDW, but I enjoy Indiana Jones storyline. The preshow is good; those who look into the eyes of the double-dealing diety take a detour to doom!
The new Space Mountain was really fun. As others have said in past threads; its a little smoother ride and its a little darker I couldnt see the track as much as I remember seeing it on the old Space Mountain.
I enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean more at Disneyland than at MK. The first couple minutes of the ride is better IMO.
The short wait at Haunted Mansion was a pleasant surprise. I love this ride and the wait time was almost always 5 minutes!
Fantasmic was great. I enjoyed the Peter Pan vs Captain Hook sequence on the pirate ship and didnt miss the Pocahontas segment from WDWs version of Fantasmic! Although we had a great spot to watch the show, Id prefer watching from an amphitheatre like at WDW instead of sitting on the ground as we did at DL.
The fireworks were as good as advertised. The crowds before, during and after the show are crazy; we had to stand during the entire show, but some kind people in front of us made room for our younger kids right up on the rope.
We had an 11:30 PS at Blue Bayou on Monday, 8/1. We decided to take advantage of a short line at POC a couple minutes before 11:00. Of course, the ride stalled briefly and we ended up checking in at Blue Bayou at around 11:20. We requested a waterside table (for our family of 6), but were seated one row of tables in from the water. Kind of disappointing, but lunch (Monte Cristo & sausage stuffed mushrooms appetizer. Mmmmmm!) was fabulous and our table was OK.
We took advantage of the $20 vouchers we received for joining ESPNs MVP Club (a great DIS tip!) and had lunch at the ESPN Zone in DTD one day. Ive found that ESPN Zone has pretty good food and very generous portions!
The weather was great for our entire trip; no humidity, which Minnesotans really appreciate!
Ill have to say that the biggest highlight of the trip was meeting HydroGuy and his family at Storybook Land Canal Boats! Running into a fellow DISer made me feel a little like Dan Murphy! Trey, after reading how thoroughly you prepared for your days in the parks, I now wish we had followed you around all three days we were there! BTW, the Storybook Land Canal Boat held BOTH of our 6-member families!
If anyone has questions, Id be happy to help!
My kids were very impressed when we connected with you. I just got my trip report posted, and like my pre-trip planning I felt compelled to go overboard on thoroughness. I worked you and Laura into the highlights for Day 3.
). It turns out she was a college acquaintance who lived in my dorm. And she remembered my name after 20+ years! When she told me who she was, the light turned on. We had a good laugh.
